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Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Did Hayao Miyazaki Inspire The Blue Umbrella?

We are really looking forward to the release of Director Saschka Unseld's short, The Blue Umbrella (with all the behind-the-scenes videos and photos it's hard not to be intrigued). Well, today we happened to find a comparison between The Blue Umbrella and Hayao Miyazaki's film My Neighbor Totoro which has excited us even more about this beautiful short.
In My Neighbor Totoro, there is a scene where the two main characters are waiting at a bus stop in the pouring rain under a RED umbrella and when Totoro (screenshot below) appears next to them, the girls notice that Totoro does not have an umbrella. After realizing this, they hand him a BLUE umbrella - which delights Totoro.

You can notice the comparison between The Blue Umbrella and My Neighbor Totoro below.

This could be a coincidence but it could also be a beautiful tribute to a world renowned artist. Hayao Miyazaki has been an inspiration for many artists including Pixarians. John Lasseter has called the works of Miyazaki "the most inspirational films". This has us wondering if Unseld was inspired by this touching scene in My Neighbor Totoro?